Even as President Donald Trump tweeted Tuesday night that “all is well” with regard to Iranian strikes at a U.S. military base in Iraq, angry and frustrated progressives hit back at the U.S. leader’s reckless drive to war.
“The American people do not want a war with Iran,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) told a presidential campaign rally crowd in Brooklyn shortly after the strikes.
Around a dozen Iranian missiles—launched in retaliation for Trump’s order last week to assassinate Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani—hit the al-Asad U.S. airbase Tuesday night.
Trump’s decisions, that have now put the two nations squarely on the brink of outright war, have infuriated progressives opposed to escalated conflict with Iran.
“I just want to say this very clearly, that a war with Iran is madness, and it is strategically and morally a disaster in the making, and don’t believe anyone who tells you otherwise,” said MSNBC host Chris Hayes as he closed out the network’s 8pm hour.
Hayes wasn’t alone in criticizing the march to war from the U.S. military establishment and its media allies. Al Jazeera journalist Sana Saeed pointed out on Twitter that the power differentials between the two countries aren’t being discussed in context by the U.S. media. That’s a problem, Saeed said.
“In case it’s being lost in the jingoism: Iran and the US are not equal partners,” said Saeed. “Not in the world, not in violence; their relationship is asymmetrical because one actually has the power to crumble the other and has used that power for decades to hurt innocent civilians.”
The innocent civilians at risk in the latest eruption of tensions between the two countries are, of course, Iraqis. The country’s decades-long oppression under the American boot was noted by peace advocacy group CodePink.
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“The only casualties reported at the Al Asad base so far are Iraqis,” CodePink tweeted. “After decades of U.S.-imposed sanctions, occupation, and attacks on Iraq, the nightmare continues for the Iraqi people as their country is used as a battleground.”
Progressives geared up for a day of protest on Thursday—as Common Dreams reported on Tuesday—social media was abuzz with users sharing “No War With Iran” and associated hashtags and images.
No war with Iran. Pass it the hell on.
— Benjamin Dixon (@BenjaminPDixon) January 8, 2020
But the left wasn’t losing sight of the real enemy in the march to war.
“Trump did this,” tweeted author Stephen King. “It’s all on Donald Trump.”
Medea Benjamin, co-founder of CodePink, also took to Twitter to fault the president for his aggressive actions toward Iran.
“This is Trump’s war against Iran,” said Benjamin. “This is a Trump-provoked war. This is a Trump-manufactured war.”
“This is Trump’s war,” she added. “Don’t forget it.”
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Common Dreams | Radio Free (2020-01-08T01:58:12+00:00) 'War With Iran Is Madness,' Declares MSNBC's Chris Hayes. 'Don't Believe Anyone Who Tells You Otherwise.'. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2020/01/08/war-with-iran-is-madness-declares-msnbcs-chris-hayes-dont-believe-anyone-who-tells-you-otherwise/
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